Entertainment

Movies, Music, Video Games, Magazines, Books-- media in general. Are any one of these evil by nature? No. Does the very definition of entertainment evil or wrong? No, in fact the entire purpose of media is to entertain and bring fulfillment. Now, have you ever seen or hear any kind of media that was evil, misguiding or against your moral standards? I have. We all have (or should have) standards as to how far is... well, "too far". Where do we draw the line between good ole' entertainment and something that is actually wrong. The best way to describe these concepts is called "moral standards" and when we deal with media we shouldn't just let those standards collect dust. Ok, here's an example;

Would you ever violently attack and kill someone?

Would you ever watch a movie, or listen to music that depicted someone attacking and killing someone else?

Why, or why not? What is the difference? What has changed that now makes the concept of hurting an individual casual? And its not just violence, what about sex, drugs, alcohol abuse, breaking the law "for fun"? Why is it that the kind of stuff, that would never be acceptable to ever actually do, seem so regular and OK in today's media. So many people say "Oh, well I would never actually do that or say it was ok in real life, that’s just a movie. I know what’s right and wrong." Well, NEWSFLASH people; by buying or watching or listening to those concepts you are presenting a market for them, and hence, condoning them. When producers see that they have someone's attention what do you honestly think their next move will be? Say "Oh, well that was a little risqué, I guess we better pull back now"? Probably not, when you have the attention of the masses why the heck would you hold back?

It seems like we can't escape it sometimes, I know so very well. Everything from TV shows to books seem to present ideas that, if ever actually happened in real life, would leave our entire world looking like the alleys of NYC around midnight. So as far as hypocrisy in media choices goes I just have to confess, I'm probably the guiltiest. Its very hard, if not impossible, to escape some of the immorality of media. It is everywhere and probably isn't going to leave anytime soon, but can I just challenge you to reevaluate your decisions in what you allow to enter into your eyes, ears, thoughts and homes. Believe what you believe and don't compromise.